T-72 Grendizer
The T-72 "Grendizer" is a variant of the former Soviet Union's T-72 Main Battle Tank made in the Levant Arab Republic. During the Syrian Civil War, T-72 and other tanks were vulnerable to RPG and ATGM attacks. This domestically produced upgrade is intended to counter the weakness that presented during the conflict. The package was produced in mind during the embargo when the supply of upgrades has been feared finite and more expensive. T-72s would've been upgraded with the Grendizer package in the face of a League of Freedom-led invasion when the tanks fail to receive Russian upgrades. As the embargo was lifted in 2065, the project no longer had major priority to the Levant Arab Army. It was re-tooled towards the foreign market as discount upgrade with RPG/ATGM attacks in mind. One such user is the Congolese Public Forces. Development history The T-72 Adra that was produced in the Syrian Civil War was evaluated to have results on RPGs, but not ATGM. With Genji-sponsorship, the Levant Arab Army (LAA) would be able to access the market for better foreign-made upgrades. This situation changed when the League of Freedom imposed it's embargo, and raised costs of foreign purchases where buying in large quantities difficult. A local solution was then ordered by the LAA to strengthen their stocks of T-72 as much as possible when they can't access foreign upgrades. 7 test models were known to be made by the LAA, and named "Shafrah" for their likeness to razor blades. Shafrah-I was tested against an ATGM, the turret was damaged but there was no internal fire. Shafrah-III and future test types were given more armour plates to rectify the mistakes of Shafrah-I and II. The improvements made into VII was enough to pass LAA requirements to install the package to local stocks. As the Shafrah's test concluded, the embargo was lifted. Although an improvement to current stocks of T-72 was devised, the renewed access to foreign upgrades left only limited quantities upgraded. Test crews named the Shafrah "Grendizer" after the Japanese anime. The Grendizer was since marketed to foreign buyers that are in need of upgrades, but non-expensive alternatives. Design characteristics Numerous brackets are placed on the T-72's turret, which then have angled plates welded onto them. Sideskirts which follow a similar pattern, but the welded plates are not angled. The armour plates are made of RHA (1.5 mm – 2 mm thick), tungsten, and glassfibre. Viper-72 thermal imaging sights, a locally-made solution to the obsolete TPN-3-49 night vision sight is now standard in the package. It allows not only effective aiming from 1.5 km – 2km (0.9-1.2 miles), but also the ability for the crew to detect enemy snipers behind cover. Additionally, it does not require any infra-red lights. Optionally, the Sarab Active Protection System can be installed to further counter ATGMs. The package was tested on a T-72 Ural and T-72AV. The Force Publique utilise the package on T-72AVs. Comparisons T-55 Enigma The biggest comparison given to the T-72 Grendizer is the Iraqi T-55 Enigma decades earlier. Likewise The T-55 Enigma was developed by another user of Soviet equipment (Iraq in this case), and with wartime need a local solution was required. Composite armour against RPG and ATGM is the obvious similarity. Users * Genji Congo Mandate - 50 * Levant Arab Republic - 20 (in limited quantities) Gallery T-72 Shafrah-II.jpg|Safrah-II T-72AV Shafrah-V Fixed.jpg|AV Shafrah-V. This is the closest to the photo of the production package. Category:Levant Arab Republic Category:Tanks Category:Armoured vehicle packages